Year of the Spark: June 18
by Sparky Army
Summary: If Rodney could see it then it was more than obvious. Sparky, of course!


We, the Sparky Army, decree 2008 to be the Year of the Spark. We pledge to post a new sparky story or chapter of a sparky story every day from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008. Though the Powers that Be have removed Elizabeth Weir from the regular cast of Stargate Atlantis, we feel that she remains an integral part of the show, and that the relationship between her and John Sheppard is too obvious to be ignored. We hope that you, and anyone who might happen to read these works, agree.

And if that isn't official enough for you, we don't know what is. Seriously, guys, we're just trying to have some fun--and show TPTB that Sparky is the way to go. So sit back and enjoy the 366 stories coming your way!

Authors Note (Hannah554): This just kind of popped into my head, a little bit of Rodney not being completely oblivious. I hope you enjoy it.

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**A Not So Hidden Romance**

_By Hannah554_

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There were two reasons Rodney McKay was annoyed at the moment and had been in a constant state of annoyed for the passed couple of days. The first one was not uncommon; in fact it had been a source of great irritation for him since the day they had arrived in the Pegasus galaxy, John Sheppard. Strangely enough he wasn't even the big contributor to Rodney's irritation, in fact at the moment he wasn't really doing much wrong. The other and bigger reason was a little more surprising, something that didn't pop up on his list of reasons to be annoyed very often and that was Elizabeth Weir.

The two leaders of Atlantis were sleeping together, it was obvious but the two of them maintained the charade of professionalism that everyone knew to be completely and totally false. Anyone with more than single brain cell – and perhaps even those with just one if they really put it to use – could see that the relationship between John and Elizabeth went way beyond the professional and had done since long before they jumped into bed together.

Knowing both of them as well as he liked to think he did, Rodney could pin point exactly when they had started sleeping together. It was shortly after they had returned from earth, back when they had just regained contact and John had just been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Something about that trip had changed Elizabeth, she'd seemed free of something, of something that previously been holding her back. Her flirting with Sheppard and turned up a notch, from harmless to serious and there'd been an increase in the number of times the two of them would just stare at each other, having a silent conversation that only they could understand.

He knew without a doubt that it had been two weeks after they returned to the city that their relationship had changed, gone from friends to something more. Personal space had never really had a huge amount of meaning to them but suddenly it seemed to have no meaning at all. They'd occasionally disappear together but those incidents were rare, they were seen together far more often than they had before, often arriving for meetings together and their ability to read each other seemed to be perfected.

People liked to say Rodney wasn't all that perceptive, that he could be completely oblivious to the goings on around him and he had to admit, there was some truth to that. John and Elizabeth were a 

different matter though, he cared about both of them and he'd seen this coming since almost day one. He'd noticed how things had changed, how they'd found their balance between Elizabeth's more diplomatically inclined mind and John's military one, how they'd changed each other.

He'd respected their privacy, never let on that he knew anything just as the rest of Atlantis had but now it was just ridiculous. Another mission gone badly which seemed to be the norm for their team, John had been captured though his damn heroics had saved the rest of the team who'd returned to Atlantis to deliver the news. It had been Teyla who'd informed Elizabeth and the diplomat's face had faltered for a brief second before she covered it back up, afraid of showing too much concern.

A rescue team, including Ronon, Teyla and Rodney, had gone in to find John being held in some sort of prison. Not a nice prison either, a whole bunch of mean looking men with almost as much muscle as Ronon and no qualms about using them to inflict some pain on the newbie. John had been in pretty bad shape when they'd found him, cuts and bruises all over the place but the big problem had been the stab wound in his side. The bleeding had stopped, the blood clotting around the wound but John had been half unconscious and completely dazed from blood loss.

They'd gotten him out, the team having to use up a fair few bullets and Teyla had been hit over the head by an overly grabby inmate. Ronon had taken care of the man and his roaming appendages, as two of Lorne's men carried John out of the prison, doing their best not to tear open the wound in his side.

The puddle jumper had been parked not far from the prison; John had spent the entire journey back to Atlantis drifting in and out of consciousness. He spoke only three times though, each time it was the same choked, whispered word... Elizabeth.

He'd been rushed off to the infirmary the second the Jumper was safely in the Jumper bay. Elizabeth had of course been there waiting for them and she had accompanied John's team to the infirmary, her eyes filled with a concern that the rest of her was trying to hide. Ronon and Teyla had given her a brief summary of what had happened on the planet as Carson and the rest of the medical staff did their best to fix John up.

It wasn't until Carson announced that John should be fine that Elizabeth had relaxed at all. She'd stuck around the infirmary for a little while, trying not to hold the unconscious John's hand or any of the other things someone would do when the person they loved was injured and unconscious in an infirmary bed. She'd muttered something about having work to do and to let her know when he woke up, she'd left the infirmary then and that had been several hours ago.

Rodney found her in her office, staring at the wall opposite her, the report on her desk untouched as she sat there pretending she wasn't as worried as she was. She was so focused on whatever thoughts were running through her head that she didn't notice him when he walked into her office. He coughed, drawing her attention to him and she looked at him, her face completely neutral but her eyes betraying her worry. She shouldn't be here, she didn't even want to be here, she wanted to be in the infirmary, sitting next to John, holding his hand and talking to him, telling him to wake up and get his report done.

"Go and sit with him," Rodney said, it came out more like an order than he had intended it to but if it got the point across then he wasn't going to complain. Elizabeth looked at him in confusion which 

only added to his irritation; did she honestly believe that no one knew, that their close friends didn't know? "Sheppard, go and sit with him."

"I have work to do," she replied, her voice lacking any energy "I'll probably stop by to see him later."

She said it so casually, like she was talking about any member of the expedition, an acquaintance who barely made it into the friend category, she showed more concern when it was him in the infirmary instead of John.

"He kept calling for you," Rodney told her, way beyond the point where he was willing to be subtle. "On the way back from the prison, the only thing he said was your name and it probably took a considerable amount of effort to say anything at all."

Elizabeth looked speechless and it was a rare thing indeed that Elizabeth Weir didn't know what to say, words were her thing but it seemed John Sheppard was one of the few things that could take that away.

"We know and no one will even bat an eye lash if you were to go down there and proclaim your undying love for him cos we've all been expecting it from the beginning," Rodney told her, a slight exaggeration, there would probably be a few raised eyebrows but the only surprise would come from the fact that she'd admitted to it.

"He kept calling for you," Rodney repeated "Do you really want him to wake up and you're not there?"

Elizabeth still seemed to be at a loss for words but she didn't actually need any, she merely smiled, a small, tired, grateful gesture as she stood up and left her office. Rodney watched her go with a sigh, his work here was done... and everyone thought he was bad with people?


End file.
